restaurants. pt 2.

ever since we moved here, we've been getting emails from Living Social and Groupon.

As of now, Living Social doesn't have any deals in SLC, but they do have deals in other cities.

Groupon recently added SLC onto their list of cities! Which is awesome.

i LOVE the deals they put up, and usually we buy one about once a week. 

Oppera Cafe was the first one we bought. 

$10 for $25 dollars worth of food. You betcha. 

it was soo cute and fun!

we sat on the outside patio, right next to a busy street and across from a live theater.

my handsome man. always texting...

we ordered an appetizer, a meal and dessert and shared all three.

jon usually eats anything. but he did not like the bruschetta. 

i thought it was yum. 

it was a very cute place, pretty reasonably priced. 

check those websites out and see if they have your city, it is SO worth it, 

i promise.

wk 11.

jon and i talked and laughed from the time he got home from work until we got in bed. we hardly used our computers or phones.

we danced and hugged in the kitchen after making dinner. 

then we made cake balls.

life was good today.

new house pictures.

i am so excited!!

a couple months ago, I asked my dear friend Jake to make a painting for us to hang in our kitchen.

he is so talented. 

i have a painting of his from a few years ago (wow, its been that long??) that i still need to hang in my office upstairs. here it is.

i know its hanging crooked and my bedroom is awful. this was my bedroom in queens, ny before my interior design degree was obtained, but look how cute that painting is!!

and and and....here is the new painting!

oh, i'm so happy with how it turned out. he does amazing work, and he's so unique.

the little heart on the upper right hand is a lil poem in the shape of a heart.

it says-

"In life's constant struggle between balance, peace, and equilibrium, love should and will always stand out from all the commotion as something that you can always rely on for peace. Sompthing you can always know to be there for you."

Yes, it says sompthing. i love it! and i love the man who made it.

he got married yesterday and i'm so happy for them. their invitation was AMAZING.

i'm so sad i couldn't make it to their wedding, and i wish them the best. 

this is how it looks from the back door. 

i love how it looks.

here is an updated photo of our kitchen bookshelf.

my uncle made the bookshelf for us with his bare hands.

it is so beautiful.

my cousin Camie made the bowls on the bottom shelf.

i am just realizing how talented my friends and family are...

i'm so grateful to have a piece of everyone in our little home. 

(creepy?)

on our three month anniversary, jon came home early and surprised me with this aloe vera plant.

he was going to bring me flowers, then he read this post that i had written that morning, and decided to get me a plant.

i am so glad he did, the plant brings much needed life into the room, and it serves a purpose!

the pitcher in the middle was given to us by my gf joyce. she is on a mission right now and I miss her dearly.

the antique box on the right, i'm so happy about it.

when jon and i were in las vegas last weekend, jon took me to the "Antique Mall Of America".

we were there for at least an hour. he enjoyed looking at everything there as much as i did. i didn't think that we would leave with anything, until we found that box.

it was $20 on a 50% off shelf.  

moving on to the living room.

i'm stuck in a rut.

i think i'm going to paint that side table the blue from the pictures. 

i got it from my dads last weekend. it had been left out on the porch for a year.

the stain is cracking off and it is just begging to be painted. maybe it will bring some interest into the room.

also, we NEED a new lamp. if anyone has any ideas for one, let me know. this one was given to us by the people who sold us the sofa. we need a light in there. it's nice to have, its just not visually pleasing.

and our little office.

not much has changed with this. i'm looking for a shelf to put both of our laptops on, so that they don't have to be stacked on top of each other. 

i've been looking for awhile and can't find anything i like. 

let me know if you have any suggestions...

so there is our little house!

it's slowly but surely coming together. i'm so happy that i decided to stay here while jon is gone. (we will see if that changes)

it would break my heart to leave the house and have to pack everything up. 

and yes, i'm still accepting visitors while he is gone:)

Where the Hell is Matt?

this is such a cute video. 

its like 'where's waldo?' trying to find his smiling face in the crowds. 

www.wherethehellismatt.com

wk 10.

the last couple weeks have been crazy. bear didn't come home before we left for texas.

we flew there tuesday night. we had such a ball! that'll be another post.

we came home saturday night around 10 pm. still no bear.

we decided that on sunday morning, we were going to drive to utah in the morning and surprise our family.

sunday, we woke up at 5 am and left at 6 so that we could be home by sunday dinner at 530.

it was so much fun seeing the family and surprising Camille. she is the sweetest.

the next morning we went to the pound to look at kitties.

well....we left with one.

we wanted to name her after something that would remind us of home.

so we named her Rumbi.

its a bit soon to get a kitty after bear left. we're both so sad about him being gone. 

the point of getting a cat was to keep me company while jon is away. i wanted him to spend time with a new kitty too, so that he didn't just come home to a cat he doesn't know. 

we still want bear to come home. 

and this new little kitty is so so so sweet.
p.s. those specks on my jeans? yeah. its snot from rumbi sneezing. she was sick when we got her, so we're in the process of nursing her back to life. we are good parents. 

texaaaaaas.

jonjon and i are in texas! he is on pre-deployment leave.

when we were first planning his leave, we wanted to just stay together and spend the whole time alone.

well, now we are thinking a little differently and would love to be with family. 

we are visiting jon's dad. this isn't the best picture, but you get the idea. 

we'll just go shoot some guns now.

wk 9.

this is the picture jon took of me last night. 

this cat was on the animal shelters website. it so obviously isn't bear. he looks so angry and mean. i wanted it to be him so bad. and really thought it was.

 i took another picture today. just the one. i thought i'd be bringing bear home with me. instead i came home alone. 

missing.

our kitten went missing. he left thursday night and hasn't come home. we usually leave our screen door open for him. we looked for him all day yesterday. i called everywhere on base, everyone said they haven't seen him. i think someone stole him. today we are going to put posters around our neighborhood.

i know he didn't run away, he has a good little life with us. he is the most spoiled cat.

look at him. after i bathe him, he gets so cold and shakey. so i wrap him up.

he fell asleep.

this is how bear reacts when he hasn't seen us for awhile. this is right when jon got back from st. george. 

happy little baby.

chair.

a few months ago (like...FEBRUARY...), Kalie and I went antique shopping. 

we went all over the salt lake valley to lots of different stores, it was so fun!

our last stop was this cute little store in sugar house. there was an old old lady there with her daughter. they told us that they had been running that store way back when, but eventually stopped for some reason. they still owned the little store, it just wasn't open to the public. so, they just kept adding more and more furniture to it as if it were storage. finally, the daughter talked the mother into opening the store again just to get rid of all of the left over furniture.

there was hardly anything in the store, but in the very back of the room, i found this gem.

the OLD price tag on the left says "$30"...the one on the right says "$2"

yes, i got this pretty chair for two dollars. 

i felt a little bad buying something from there.  they said as soon as everything is sold, they are done with the store. they were both sweet though and i loved this chair. 

okay see how yuck the seat was? and how thin and sketchy it was?

look at her now! this is leftover fabric from when I interned at Ethan Allen. I had used it for a project, so a big chunk was missing out of the back....it was....SUCH a pain to get the fabric to cover the entire cushion. it came out a little wonky, but i like it.

made the cushion from scratch, first time doing that. it was a struggle and it isn't perfect, but i think it turned out pretty cute. besides the new seat and cleaning the wood, i didn't do anything to the chair. doesnt it look so much better though? i love how the dark bits of the fabric brings out the darkness of the wood. 

i love bring such old pieces into new homes. they bring such life with them. and they're so much better and sturdier than furniture you can find anywhere else nowadays...

my little plant.

i love plants. i don't know a single thing about them, but i love them.

before i moved, i stole* the plant off of my desk at work.

we were in transit for 4 days. when we got to california, we stayed a couple nights at the Vigil's. since we didn't have a home, i left my plant in the Vigil's garden. i hoped that they had sprinklers so that he could get watered....wellllll...he didn't. 

this is what he looked like when i picked him up. 

such a pathetic sight. i was so worried. we bought some fertilizer for him and i have been nursing him ever since. 

proof-

look how full and luscious!! he's a whole new man! 

now i need to get a bigger pot.

does anyone know where i can get a cute one??

in unrelated news, this is what my nights look like:

jon and i usually read before we go to bed. jon reads for MAYBE 3 minutes before he's out.

oh how i love them. 



*i didn't REALLY steal it....i just told my manager i was taking it and he wasn't very happy about it. he has a good home though. 

dads visit!

gary came to visit us the weekend we got bear. thats when bear did nothing but fall asleep in weird places and positions. he is asleep in this photo. 

on friday, we went to the aviation museum right next to where we live. it was pretty cool. 

i dont know if i'd go again, but it was free.

then we went to the USS Midway! it was awesome exploring the whole ship. we were in it for about 4 hours and still didn't see everything. poor sailors had to live and work in such small spaces. 

this was the creepiest. the ship hospital. i know it was haunted. 

we thought this was so funny.

me with coronado in the background.

we took a tour of the flight deck? or something. but it was really worth it. if you ever go, you need to take the tours. sometimes, the tour guides were stationed on this ship. it was so cool hearing their personal stories of when they lived on it. 

dad in the brig. scary!!!

i got these pictures off my dads camera. yes, he took a picture of the cat playing in his shoes. 

he loved this little kitty. 

the next day, we went to sea world! jon and i are recent season pass holders! we bought one year, and got another year free. so actually we have passes for two years. it comes with free parking as well. we've been twice, and it already paid for itself. sweet. 

in true robinson fashion, we got to the park right when it opened. meaning...we were the very first people to ride Atlantis that day!

it is the funnest, cutest ride. 

dad and Mei looking at the 'dolphins'.

scared in the shark exhibit!

midday snacks.

this face is reminding me of one that amanda used to do. i will never do it again.

i got a kids meal for lunch, and walked away with a sweeet plate souvenir. 

in the middle of the day, jon and i rode shipwreck rapids. 

i really love that ride, so finally jon decided he'd come with me.

not only did my dad put a quarter in one of those things so that he could spray water at us, but you go under a waterfall. we. got. SOAKED. SOAKED is even an understatement. 

after that, i took off my shirt and put my sweater on. which is why i had my shirt draped over my shoulder. well, sometime between the shark exhibit and this last picture, i dropped my t shirt. we looked all around and traced our steps and FOUND it! i'm so happy to be wearing it right now.

it was such a fun vacation, i'm so happy my dad got to come and visit. we loved spending time with them!

wk 8.

my new job-working from home.

why get ready?

BTW, i made this tonight and it was AMAZING.

it is a great recipe.

i did one thing different than the directions.

it said to flip the cake over onto a cooling rack. i put it back into a cold 9x13 pan upside down so that the top of the cake was at the bottom of the pan, then i cut slits in the cake. it was less messy and the cake pan caught all the excess carmel and sweetened milk. mmm mmm mmm.

ABC's

Thank you Mrs. S for giving me something to do while procrastinating doing real work. 

A- My AIR CONDITIONER is set on: off. we don't use it very often, but when we do it works really well.

B- My BEDROOM theme is: grey and yellow contemporary. i'm stuck in a rut with it...but i'll figure it out. 

C- The CAR in the driveway is: 2004 nissan altima. my dad just recently took his name off the title so its allll mine!

D- My DESK looks: pretty good. i cleaned it off yesterday because we had people over for jon's birthday. i also hung more stuff up which makes me realllllly happy!

its coming along....

C- The CAR in the driveway is: 2004 nissan altima. my dad just recently took his name off the title so its allll mine!

D- My DESK looks: pretty good. i cleaned it off yesterday because we had people over for jon's birthday. i also hung more stuff up which makes me realllllly happy!

E- The EXACT time I wake up daily is: between 8:30-10am.

F- The FIRST thing I wash in the shower is: My hair.

G- My GARAGE is filled with: empty boxes for all our wedding gifts ("in case we move"...), our bikes, my car, food storage.....etc. oh and the hideous blinds from our bedroom that i took down.

H- My HOUSE is: bigger than what we could afford in the outside world.

I- If you peeked INSIDE my bedroom you'd see: an unmade bed and messy dressers.

J- My favorite JUICE is: currently orange mango. yum yum. thanks amanda and nephi.

K- The best part of my KITCHEN is: our 60 year old kitchen table, the book case my uncle made for us by hand, and the dry sink. one of the first things my mom and dad bought as married couple. best part about it--they cut out the back so that they could put their tv in it.

L- The LAST person who visited my home was: jon's friends. friends from the shop, my cousin, and our neighbors. it was a fun night.

M- The last piece of MAIL for me was: a letter from my granny:)

N- My NEIGHBORS think I'm: loud. luckily i married someone who loves to sing as often and as loud as i do.

O- If you OPENED my fridge you'd see: lots of orange juice and rootbeer. jon's creme de le creme soda that he got for his bday, hamburger patties and leftovers.

P- My last house PARTY was: last night. a surprise BBQ for my one and only.

Q- A QUICK meal I like to fix is: tuna fish sandwich.

R- My favorite ROOM of the house is: the bedroom because its the only room that has started to get decorated...but i love our whole house.

S- The SHAMPOO brand I use: usually biolage but currently pantene pro-v...

T- My largest TELEVISION is: the only TV in our house. in the living room.

U- UNDER my bed you will find: my stuffed animal and a bag of jon's stuff that he doesnt know what to do with...

V- The last time I VACUUMED was: yesterday before the party. 

W- Looking out my WINDOW I see: my cat being nuts in the window sill and our shared backyard. i can see through the houses behind us to the street behind our house.

X- I wish I had X-TRA: energy. i always wake up tired and my whole day i'm tired. boooo.

Y- My YARD is: about 12x12 and contains two rocking chairs, a shelf for my plant and gardening tools, the litter box, jon's grill and my hanging fuchsia and hummingbird feeder. its cement. outside of our little gate is grass and a play set we share.

Z- ZZZZZZZ My bedtime is: usually around 11 or 12. after jon's been asleep and i've read for a couple hours. so annoying. 

restaurants.

i want to get caught up on all these pictures i have. i feel like i have so much to blog about!

we love going to new [cheap] restaurants, and we always take pics.

i want to blog about them so that i can remember to go back:)

i heard about a free surf museum in Oceanside. i called them, and they said it was free during the street fair. street fair?! i love those! so, i met jon there. he's working at camp pendleton right now. he's doing his training there for his upcoming deployment. that means he drives an hour north every morning. 

so we met halfway and left jon's truck in a parking lot, and drove the rest of the way to oceanside. 

we were both starved. we went into this random little bar and lucky for us, it was happy hour! also, roof seating!

because of happy hour, our meal wassss SO cheap. 

this is our view from our table. oceanside isn't the NICEST area...

before we left, we stopped at DQ for ice cream. 

i worked at dairy queen/Orange Julius in fashion place mall when i was 16. 

while jon was taking my picture, some guy walked past and asked if we wanted a picture together. we were caught off guard which is why we look so awkward. ha!
p.s.